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Adrian Magson

Sunday, 6 August 2017

Writing for Beginners (34)

Learning to Focus

A recent shopping expedition to
find a birthday present for my wife found me in a similar situation,
writing-wise, to a friend who writes short fiction. Surrounded by a plethora of
goodies, all suitable (and, what’s more, all potential vote-winners in the
pressie stakes) I dithered and shuffled like a nervous teenager on a blind
date, not sure what to choose.
Basically, (and here I hasten to say I depart from
the teenager analogy – my teens, anyway) there were so many
possibilities on offer I couldn’t decide which one to go for. In the end, I
allowed greed to heap disaster on me by snatching at something in haste… which,
as it happened, proved unsuitable.

But back to my
friend. He mentioned that in spite of an abundance of ideas, he had recently
found himself in a cycle of constantly starting something, then running out of
steam because he couldn’t focus on where to go next. This had resulted in a
string of projects, all abandoned at various stages and each resembling a
lengthy art-house film: no end in sight and not a lot that made sense.
‘Lucky beggar!’
I hear you mutter. ‘If only I had so many.’

The fact is,
many writers experience moments like this, when they can't focus on one
particular task.So eager are they to
get their ideas down on paper they flit from one to the other like a honeybee
on steroids and end up making a pig’s ear out of each one.

I usually find it
hits me just after I’ve completed a large or difficult project, as I slough off
the mental concentration of the previous job and try to fix on something new.
With ideas collected all around me, I find my wastebasket becomes full of paper
balls, my PC games get a hammering and I tend to drift around the house like Marley’s
ghost.

This is where
self-discipline comes in, and you have to rein back your enthusiasm for
grasping at straws or launching into something without some forethought.

Begin by
clearing your desk of all those project idea notes you’ve gathered save one.
Yes, of course the others are wonderful gems, harvested in the bath, on the
train or wherever it is your best ideas hit you. And yes, you want to write
them all. But they are also a huge distraction. Stuff them in an
envelope and put them somewhere temporarily out of reach, or give them to your
neighbour with strict instructions not to let you near them for at least a
week.

Now look at your
choice of market. One way to help decide what to write, is to focus on
the market you want to write for. Given that most magazines have a
limited range of subjects or story styles they will accept, this immediately
limits what you can work on. You should inevitably find yourself discarding all
thoughts about writing anything that is not appropriate.

An alternative
is to check the current stock of writing competitions. These may call for a
genre or topic you wouldn’t normally try, but as a discipline it will focus
your thinking away from that vast plethora of ideas swirling around in your
brain.

This is also useful in that as well as a subject
goal, you are automatically set a time limit. There’s nothing like knowing you
have to meet a deadline for focussing the mind. It cuts out the temptation to
dash off at a tangent – usually in pursuit of an idea which has just popped
into your mind along with that little voice on your shoulder telling you it
will be a real doddle to knock off in a couple of hours. It won’t, of course,
and you know it.

Another
stumbling-block to completing anything mid-stream is a lack of regular planning.
This can be over a simple but important scene which, although small beans
compared to the whole story, is enough to make you down tools in frustration
and reach for something else.

Instead of
letting this minor glitch derail your thoughts completely, take a long, hard
look at the scene where you are stuck. On separate lines beneath it, type the
key words of what you would like to happen next. (I generally use capitals to
‘shout’ at myself so I don’t miss anything – even if I eventually discard a particular
idea). Forget grammar and punctuation – simply put down the points you need to
cover.

For example, your key scene might have a character agonising over
resigning from a high-powered but hated job, and the inevitable furore that
will follow. You could end up with: FEAR – DECISION – DECLARATION – BOSS’S
REACTION. Then think about what kind of scene could logically come next. You
might end up with: FINANCES – OTHER CONSEQUENCES – ALTERNATIVES - WALKING OUT –
FREEDOM – RELEASE. Repeat, as the old medicine bottles used to say, as needed.

In this way you
are focussing on a small but crucial part of the story each time, instead of
the whole feast. Rather than letting it defeat you, tempting you to grab hold
of something else in the hope that it may be easier, you are building stepping
stones towards completion of the larger picture.

Before you know where you are,
you’ve got the path forward to the next scene and can repeat the exercise as
required, instead of pigging out on ideas and ruining all your hard work.

TOP TIPS

·Focus on one idea at a time. Trying too many at
once will inevitably water down your efforts.

·Plan what you intend to do next and stick to it.

·Look for writing challenges (competitions, story
websites requesting themed submissions) and see what inspiration they throw up.

THE WATCHMAN

ROCCO AND THE SNOW ANGEL

DEATH AT THE CLOS DU LAC

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About Me

I'm the author of 21 spy and crime thrillers, a YA paranormal novel, a crime/adventure cross-over and 2 short fiction anthologies. I also write book reviews for SHOTS Magazine and the 'Beginners' column for WRITING Magazine, and from that have completed a non-fiction book - 'Write On! - The Writer's Help Book'.
Represented by David Headley of the DHH Literary Agency, London - http://www.dhhliteraryagency.com